To do well in the Iowa caucuses, campaigns need to be well organized, long-time politics watchers here say.

Here are some measures of organization, with GOP 2012 presidential candidates listed by how they ranked in a recent Bloomberg News poll.

HERMAN CAIN

His Iowa staff has been small and disorganized all cycle, with two waves of turnover that have caused upheavals in its progress. But an October surge brought a spike in cash, swarms of volunteers and a professional Iowa campaign consultant who is leading an all-out organizational push. Question is: Is there enough time before Jan. 3?

The Iowa campaign has matured from disenfranchised voters four years who plastered bumper stickers on stop signs and zip-tied banners on bridges into a machine of precinct workers making phone calls and working their neighbors. A stream of TV ads have been blasting his message statewide, his Iowa HQ is a beehive of activity, and he has the power of five state GOP central committee members on his team.

Ron Paul

Paid Iowa staff: At least 6 in September; campaign declined to name current staff

Location of Iowa offices: One, in Ankeny

Days spent in Iowa this cycle: 33

Cash on hand, Sept. 30: $3.7 million

Support in Iowa in Nov. 10-12 Bloomberg poll: 19 percent

TV ads in Iowa: Yes, on Paul’s opposition to abortion, on his service and advocacy for veterans, on his opposition to raising the debt ceiling, on national security, and on his proposal for cutting a trillion dollars in spending in year one.

He will soon open an Iowa campaign office in Des Moines that will house volunteers who are part of a calculated Hawkeye State effort. Two personable field staffers have been showing up at events all year, signing up supporters. Romney also benefits from a reservoir of support stemming from his expensive, intense campaign four years ago, when he had 67 paid staff in Iowa by mid-October 2007.

NEWT GINGRICH
His campaign was in chaos earlier this summer: His entire Iowa staff quit in a startling mass exodus and his campaign was so in debt he didn’t buy a tent site at the Iowa straw poll. But fresh interest in Gingrich has reeled in cash, planned new Iowa offices, and two ex-staffers have returned. Can a beefed up effort re-harness momentum?

When the air went out of the tires for Perry during recent debates, his efforts to organize slumped in some areas of the state, county GOP chairs say. But a padded campaign account is bankrolling TV ads, mailers, professional staffers and a well-coordinated effort to organize in Iowa.

TV ads in Iowa: Yes, one promising 2.5 million jobs, one that accuses Obama of calling Americans lazy, one on values of hard work and family

Key supporters: Gary Kirke

Straw poll supporters: 718 write-in votes for sixth place

MICHELE BACHMANN

The August straw poll winner has one of the biggest staffs of all the Iowa campaigns, but staffers have been noticeably absent from several recent county events, including a big fundraiser for U.S. Rep. Steve King. It’s hard to find a Bachmann yard sign these days. But she has county chairs in “a clear majority of counties,” her aides say.

His six field representatives are everywhere in Iowa. They deck out driveways with Santorum signs, pass out literature, talk up their guy and capture voter info. But better than that, Santorum is influencing the influencers himself. He has hoofed it through all 99 of Iowa’s counties – an old-fashioned feat no other candidate can lay claim to this cycle.